RAF officer ranks

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NATO Code	OF-10	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1		OF-D-	Student Officer
United Kingdom (Edit)												*No equivalent*
United Kingdom (Edit)	Marshal of the Royal Air Force¹	Air Chief Marshal	Air Marshal	Air Vice-Marshal	Air Commodore	Group Captain	Wing Commander	Squadron Leader	Flight Lieutenant	Flying Officer	Pilot Officer		Officer Cadet or Student Officer
Abbreviation	MRAF	Air Chf Mshl or ACM	Air Mshl or AM	AVM	Air Cdre	Gp Capt	Wg Cdr	Sqn Ldr	Flt Lt	Fg Off	Plt Off		OCdt
^{1 Currently honorary/wartime rank only.}

1 Origins
- 1.1 Badges of Rank
- 1.2 Rank Titles
2 Composite Braid
3 Distinction between ranks and appointments
4 Other air forces
5 See also
6 External links and references

Lieutenant-General David Henderson originally proposed that Royal Air Force officers use a combination of British Army and Royal Navy ranks. However, the War Office argued that the RAF should have its own ranks and the Admiralty opposed any use of their rank titles.

On 1 April 1918, Air Force Memorandum 2 specified rank insignia for the newly established independent force. Rank was to be worn on the jacket cuff and was derived from the Royal Navy's rings, each equivalent rank having the same number of rings. However, Second Lieutenants (now Pilot Officers) displayed a crowned eagle only and the Navy's loop was not used for any rank. Depending on the uniform, either gold or pale blue on grey braid was worn.

In August 1918, Air Ministry Weekly Order 617 added a single band of 1/4 inch braid below the Second Lieutenant's eagle and all other officer ranks also received a crowned eagle above their braid.

RAF Mess Dress cuff insignia for a Flight Lieutenant

In 1919 the colour of the rank braid was changed to black with a central pale blue stripe. However, on RAF mess dress rank continued to be displayed in gold.

As mentioned above, it was originally proposed that the RAF ranks were to be derived from existing Royal Navy and Army ranks. Both services were consulted and both reacted unfavourably - the Navy unhappy about the use of its higher ranks and the Army complaining it provided the "junior ranks". This resulted in a compromise whereby the officer ranks were proposed to be Ensign, Lieutenant, Flight Leader, Squadron Leader, Reeve, Banneret, Fourth Ardian, Third Ardian, Second Ardian and Air Marshal. A further proposal was Ensign, Lieutenant, Flight-Leader, Squadron-Leader, Wing-Leader, Leader, Flight Ardian, Squadron Ardian, Wing Ardian, Ardian, Air Marshal.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, these contrived ranks were rejected and on 1 August 1919, Air Ministry Weekly Order 973 introduced new rank titles for RAF officers. They were based on Royal Navy ranks and their titles were influenced by the usage in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) during World War I. For example, the RAF rank of Flight Lieutenant was based on the RNAS rank of the same name. The rank of Squadron Leader derived its name from the RNAS rank of Squadron Commander. Initially the highest rank was titled Marshal of the Air. However, only a few days after it was promulgated and at the request of King George V, this rank title was changed to Marshal of the Royal Air Force.

Composite braid as worn by a squadron leader

RAF officers typically wear composite braid rank slides with their working and operational uniforms. Composite braid consists of a single piece of fabric, where the 'background' between the rank rings is made from blue-grey material. Composite braid rank slides are often referred to as 'bar-code' in RAF slang.

Many RAF ranks do not imply the appointment or duties of an officer. For example, a Pilot Officer may well not be trained to pilot an aircraft and a Squadron Leader does not necessarily command a squadron.

The following air forces use a similar or identical officer rank structure to the RAF:

Royal Australian Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Hellenic Air Force
Nigerian Air Force
Indian Air Force (formerly the Royal Indian Air Force)
Pakistan Air Force (formerly the Royal Pakistan Air Force)
Bangladesh Air Force
Sri Lanka Air Force (formerly the Royal Ceylon Air Force)
Ghana Air Force
Air Force of Zimbabwe (formerly the Royal Rhodesian Air Force)
Royal Thai Air Force

Naval Forces	Land/Air Forces	Commonwealth Air Forces
Common Military Ranks
Admiral	General	Air Marshal
Commodore	Brigadier	Air Commodore
Captain	Colonel	Group Captain
Commander	Lieutenant Colonel	Wing Commander
Lieutenant Commander	Major	Squadron Leader
Lieutenant	Captain	Flight Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Flying Officer
Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer
Petty Officer	Sergeant	Sergeant
Leading Rate	Corporal	Corporal
Seaman	Private	Aircraftman

The following air forces use rank insignia for their officers which are similar to the RAF, but employ army rank titles:

Swedish Air Force (sometimes the English translation of the Swedish Air Force officer rank titles follows the RAF pattern)[1]
Royal Netherlands Air Force
Royal Danish Air Force
Irish Air Corps

The following air forces formerly used a similar or identical officer rank structure to the RAF:

Royal Canadian Air Force (until 1968)
Royal Malaysian Air Force

The following air forces formerly used similar rank insigia to the RAF:

	Officer ranks of the British Armed Forces
	Student Officer	OF(D)	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8	OF-9	OF-10
Royal Navy:		Mid	SLt		Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Capt	Cdre	RAdm	VAdm	Adm	Adm of the Fleet
Royal Marines:			2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen
Army:	OCdt		2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	FM
Royal Air Force:	OC / SO		APO / Plt Off	Fg Off	Flt Lt	Sqn Ldr	Wg Cdr	Gp Capt	Air Cdre	AVM	Air Mshl	Air Chf Mshl	MRAF